{"id":1710,"date":"2010-12-30T02:00:22","date_gmt":"2010-12-30T02:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/?p=1710"},"modified":"2014-07-17T14:23:18","modified_gmt":"2014-07-17T14:23:18","slug":"comparative-superlative-russian-adjectives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/comparative-superlative-russian-adjectives\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Compare Things in Russian"},"content":{"rendered":"

Do you know a Russian saying \u00ab<\/strong>\u0437\u0438\u043c\u043e<\/span>\u0439 <\/strong>\u0441\u043d\u0435<\/span>\u0433\u0430 <\/strong>\u043d\u0435 <\/strong>\u0434\u043e\u043f\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u0441\u0438\u0448\u044c\u0441\u044f\u00bb<\/strong>? It\u2019s used when describing \u00ab<\/strong>\u0441\u043a\u0443\u043f\u043e<\/span>\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> [stingy], \u00ab<\/strong>\u0436\u0430<\/span>\u0434\u043d\u044b\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> [greedy] person from whom one literally can\u2019t beg even snow in the winter. Well, we\u2019ve had so much snow over the last weekend that I think even the worst tightwads are ready to part with some of the stuff now.<\/em><\/p>\n

But all this snow kept us busy – we \u00ab<\/strong>\u0440\u0430\u0441\u0447\u0438\u0449\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u0438 <\/strong>\u0434\u043e\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u0436\u043a\u0438\u00bb<\/strong> [were clearing the walkways], \u00ab<\/strong>\u043b\u0435\u043f\u0438<\/span>\u043b\u0438 <\/strong>\u0441\u043d\u0435\u0433\u043e\u0432\u0438\u043a\u0430<\/span>\u00bb<\/strong> [were making a snowman], \u00ab<\/strong>\u043a\u0430\u0442\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u0438\u0441\u044c <\/strong>\u043d\u0430 <\/strong>\u0441\u0430<\/span>\u043d\u043a\u0430\u0445\u00bb<\/strong> [went sledding], \u00ab<\/strong>\u0438\u0433\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u0438 <\/strong>\u0432 <\/strong>\u0441\u043d\u0435\u0436\u043a\u0438<\/span>\u00bb<\/strong> [had snowball fights] and \u00ab<\/strong>\u0441\u0443\u0448\u0438<\/span>\u043b\u0438 <\/strong>\u043e\u0434\u0435<\/span>\u0436\u0434\u0443\u00bb<\/strong> [were drying our clothes] in between these activities.<\/p>\n

With a dryer humming in the background, we sat around the kitchen table, ate \u00ab<\/strong>\u043f\u0435\u0447\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u044c\u0435\u00bb<\/strong> [cookies], drank \u00ab<\/strong>\u0433\u043e\u0440\u044f<\/span>\u0447\u0438\u0439 <\/strong>\u0447\u0430\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> [hot tea] and \u00ab<\/strong>\u043a\u0430\u043a\u0430<\/span>\u043e\u00bb<\/strong> [hot cocoa] and talked about the weather.<\/p>\n

The consensus was that this winter was not just \u00ab<\/strong>\u0445\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0434\u043d\u0435<\/span>\u0435, <\/strong>\u0447\u0435\u043c <\/strong>\u043f\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u0448\u043b\u0430\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> [colder than the last one], but also \u00ab<\/strong>\u0431\u043e<\/span>\u043b\u0435\u0435 <\/strong>\u0441\u043d\u0435<\/span>\u0436\u043d\u0430\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> [with more snow]. We also agreed that as long as we didn\u2019t have to drive anywhere on snowy days, such turn of events was \u00ab<\/strong>\u0432\u0435\u0441\u0435\u043b\u0435<\/span>\u0435\u00bb<\/strong> [merrier] than a warm winter. \u00ab<\/strong>\u0421\u0430<\/span>\u043c\u044b\u0439 <\/strong>\u043c\u043b\u0430<\/span>\u0434\u0448\u0438\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> [the youngest] family member even opined that this was \u00ab<\/strong>\u0441\u0430<\/span>\u043c\u044b\u0439 <\/strong>\u043b\u0443<\/span>\u0447\u0448\u0438\u0439 <\/strong>\u0434\u0435\u043d\u044c\u00bb<\/strong> [the best day] in his whole entire life, all four years of it.<\/p>\n

That last remark, combined with some New Year resolutions I\u2019ve been putting together for myself, got me thinking about \u00ab<\/strong>\u0441\u0442\u0435<\/span>\u043f\u0435\u043d\u0438 <\/strong>\u0441\u0440\u0430\u0432\u043d\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u0438\u044f <\/strong>\u043f\u0440\u0438\u043b\u0430\u0433\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u0435\u043b\u044c\u043d\u044b\u0445\u00bb<\/strong> [degrees of comparison of adjectives] in Russian language.<\/p>\n

Now, the positive degree is a pretty straightforward one since it\u2019s just the basic form of the adjective (or adverb) – \u00ab<\/strong>\u0441\u043d\u0435<\/span>\u0436\u043d\u044b\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> [snowy], \u00ab<\/strong>\u0445\u043e\u043b\u043e<\/span>\u0434\u043d\u044b\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> [cold], \u00ab<\/strong>\u0432\u0435\u0441\u0451<\/span>\u043b\u044b\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> [cheerful].<\/p>\n

\u00ab\u0421\u0440\u0430\u0432\u043d\u0438<\/span>\u0442\u0435\u043b\u044c\u043d\u0430\u044f \u0438 \u043f\u0440\u0435\u0432\u043e\u0441\u0445\u043e<\/span>\u0434\u043d\u0430\u044f \u0441\u0442\u0435<\/span>\u043f\u0435\u043d\u0438 \u0433\u043e\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u0437\u0434\u043e \u0438\u043d\u0442\u0435\u0440\u0435<\/span>\u0441\u043d\u0435\u0435.\u00bb<\/strong> [The comparative and superlative degrees are a lot more interesting.] To begin with, there are two distinct ways of forming these and you can, for the most part, pick and choose. By the way, it will also work for \u00ab<\/strong>\u043d\u0430\u0440\u0435<\/span>\u0447\u0438\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> [adverbs].<\/p>\n

One \u00ab<\/strong>\u0441\u043f\u043e<\/span>\u0441\u043e\u0431\u00bb<\/strong> [method] is to use suffixes and, in some cases, prefixes to come up with comparative and superlative adjectives. These suffixes include \u00ab-<\/strong>\u0435\u0435- (-<\/strong>\u0435\u0439-)-\u00bb, \u00ab-<\/strong>\u0435-\u00bb, \u00ab-<\/strong>\u0448\u0435-\u00bb<\/strong> for comparative adjectives and \u00ab-<\/strong>\u0435\u0439\u0448- (-<\/strong>\u0430\u0439\u0448-)\u00bb<\/strong> for superlative ones:<\/p>\n